hi. are you feeling bad about sleeping in and enjoying the electric blanket?don't actually have a wild crazy social life, leaving you hung over and broke come saturday?want to get up early on saturdays and hang out with people that seem pretty much like you, but somehow, more relaxed?got an old bike that actually works most of the time?then come for a ride!

vaeske and I have been meeting at 6am saturday mornings for a 32km river loop (it's not as far as it sounds - just say it quickly, and then on monday morning say it nice and slowly at work when you just know that lazy clown you don't really like is eavesdropping), on our 80s steel roadies.

as i have chicken legs, things are rather leisurely, around 20-25km/h, but getting better.incredibly nice of me to provide all of these rest stops for vaeske, but i'm sure he would appreciate someone to chat to on each crest, and i'd appreciate someone who's actually slower than i, thus giving me the opportunity to have a break on some of the crests too! if you're a bit quicker than 25km/hr but think you might be interested, come along anyway - it'll give vaeske something to do.

if you've got a retro bike and any of the following applies to you:chicken legs (or at least an understanding of what it means to have chicken legs), a desire to get a bit fitter, you enjoy talking about bikes and stuff, pro-coffee attitude, then come for a ride! no snobbery, no ego's - you don't even need a lycra bodysuit! we're just a couple of blokes looking for some friendly peeps to share the increasingly fresh (and fun) morning rides with

melbourne hotel, browning st, west end. 6:00am - 8:30am+

Last edited by munga on Sat Jun 23, 2012 8:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.

cool banana's, guys! we both keep a bit of an eye on other bikes we see, and maybe one in 50 is an old steelie. be good to see a few more out there.

a few thoughts: if you wanna moan and groan about waiting for people, we probably aren't the group of peeps you want to ride with. last thing we want is a bunch of andys.if you feel you need to swear (swearing does increase your pain threshold. i read it on the internet so it must be true), go ahead, but don'e get all tourettes on us.if you wanna ride no-hands and stop for photos, nobody's going to get upset. if you wanna do 200m wheelies, i'll bring my bmx too and we can go off and do our own thing.if you think 6am is too early, turn up just once and see how you feel. i used to think getting up at 4:30 was crazy, but now it's important to me. the only thing that really bugs me is old ladies laughing and chatting, then overtaking me on a hill, and smiling at me like it's not hurting. so if your a friendly old lady with better v02 than i, please, please, please, stick with your trek madone, your attractive cycling buddies, your nicely fitting and sweat-free team kit, and i'll try to sound pleasant between gasps.finally, it's not training - its social. PB's are great, but nobody wants to get yelled at coz someone didn't call a stick on the road.

departing at 6:30 with some guys from another forum for a quick ride up mt coot-tha.by "quick", i mean "i will be last, and during my ascent, endeavour to yell abuse at the others as they descend past me".all welcome. bring a stretcher.

munga wrote:departing at 6:30 with some guys from another forum for a quick ride up mt coot-tha.by "quick", i mean "i will be last, and during my ascent, endeavour to yell abuse at the others as they descend past me".all welcome. bring a stretcher.

Is that from the Melbourne Hotel at 6.30 ?

"Technology gives us much more information but Education is never be able to give us the skill to evaluate it"

This morning I caught up with Dubrat on his Stronglight Atala prototype, and elantra on his Malvern Star Double X.Both of these guys are running downtube shifters, so I felt like a bit of a charlatan with my fancy shmancy brifters.

Dubrat's bike had been recently purchased, and he hadn't the opportunity to ride it much in the few short weeks he'd owned it. The frame is very similar in construction to an Alan or Vitus frame, but if you are familiar with either of those, you would pick the differences immediately. Very interesting bike. Decked out in 6200 series Shimano, 600EX, with 7400 rd and crankset, it looked pretty classy (for fishing gear). However, as with most new-to-the-owner bikes, it was being a bit fussy with the chain occasionally skipping under load. On a couple of occasions, I winced as I watched him powering up a small rise, saw the chain skip a little, and anticipated the unholy union of his pant-jewellery and the top tube. Luckily, it never happened, but i'm sure it was in the back of his mind for the entire ride. No matter, it's an easy fix, and I'm sure Dubby's going to enjoy many miles astride that lovely frameset.

Elantra's Malvern Star had patina, single front chainring, black tyres, shiny seatpost, black stem, centrepulls, and some more patina. I honestly don't know what drivetrain he's running. It looked comfortable and sounded well maintained, and I get the feeling he doesn't care so much for component snobbery. As long as it works, it works. He commented that his frame felt more stable and relaxed than his top-of-the-line 531c Repco Vertex, due to mostly to longer wheelbase, and more relaxed geometry. Race bikes aren't always the best, I guess.

Onward. We bailed on the Coot-tha climb (as Dubrat was running what appeared to be a corncob for a cassette), and with Dubrat and I both being on a tight schedule, we deferred to a short riverloop, before a quick spin into the CBD to deliver Dubrat to his bride to be, then back out to West End.Good times.

What really hit home with me today was the fact that you can ride a lovely handcrafted frame with modern lightweight components and quality wheels, but if you haven't put the miles in, you're still going to be at the back of the bunch. If any newcomers are reading, don't get caught up thinking that top shelf components are going to make you a better rider. Riding makes you a better rider. It sounds obvious, but it's more useful to understand (and appreciate) that, than saving grams on derailleurs and saddles.

Overall, I got to put in a few miles with some nice blokes, eyeballed a very rare bike, enjoyed the good weather, and learnt a little about myself. Looking forward to another ride.

Last edited by munga on Sat Jun 30, 2012 9:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I took the Geoff Scott built Clamont steel bike to Jindalee, Steam for coffee at Southbank, and back home via Qld Uni to Fig Tree Pocket. 48 pleasant kms. Tomorrow we leave Sumners rd at 6.30am for Wynum and return. I hope to catch you fellas sometime. Do you ride midweek?

was a nice morning ride with elantra and munga. We left at 6:30 after waiting for a few last minute stragglers. However no one else turned up so off we went on the ride, elantra on the malvern star, munga on his repco and myself on the dawes.

track was pretty quiet due to the rains but we did quite well and finished up around 8:15. thanks elantra for showing us the proper loop this time.

Got room for a casual single rider next Sat morning (if I'm not too tired from watching the TdF), sorry guys it's not an oldie (2012 Dolan) but atleast I've not got a whole bucketful of gears (I'll leave the 20spd roadie at home), atleast I don't get a sore wrist from all them there gear changes, just sore legs from anything resembling a hill or upwards slope (the joys of single speed).

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